tales of work, unemployment and those activities in between

Paid Sick Leave for New Yorkers

Paid sick leave for workers in small to medium-sized businesses is an issue that’s been on the table for a while here in NYC. On a personal level, I think that coming to work sick is a terrible idea, and that passing illness around and office (let alone a restaurant!) is unnecessary and just plain gross. But as an hourly worker, I can’t imagine giving up a whole day unless I was really on death’s door. Oh, paid time off, you fickle mistress! As a small business owner, I am sure that the cost-benefit analysis is different from industry to industry. But encouraging New Yorkers to stay home and recuperate when truly ill seems like a no-brainer to me, and requiring businesses to pay for 40 hours per worker per year just doesn’t seem that out of control.